Perversion of the recall process could bring reform — if California survives it
I
By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
Buscaino staff get into physical confrontations with homeless rights activists p. 2
Leave No Soldier Behind Veterans for Peace made it their mission to bring deported
[See Beyond 9/14, p. 8]
veterans back to U.S. soil
By Hunter Chase, Community News Reporter United States military veterans who are not citizens can be deported — they often are — and it can be very difficult for them to return to this country. “The only way they can legally come back at the moment is die,” said Michael Lindley, a member of Veterans for Peace at the Aug. 2 meeting of San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Justice. “Then they can come back and be buried in the United States.” The problem started with the Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act of 1997, said Jan Ruhman, president of the San Diego chapter of Veterans for Peace, and the former operation coordinator for the Deported Veterans Advocacy Project. The bill took criminal offenses that were too minor to be a cause for deportation, such as state-level misdemeanors, and
turned them into aggravated felonies. Since then, about 4,000 to 5,000 veterans have been deported each year. This doesn’t just include veterans from more recent wars, like Iraq or Afghanistan, but it goes all the way back to Vietnam vets. “It tied the hands of judges,” Ruhman said. “They had no judicial discretion. They could not do anything, other than gavel down if ICE sent them a referral.” The judges cannot consider anything from the defendant’s life except the crime he committed, including whether he’s a veteran. “I’ve actually sat in these courts and heard the judge put the gavel down and say, ‘I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do, but I want to thank you for your service,” Ruhman said. “What a slap in the face that would be.”
The act does not have a statute of limitations. Manuel Valenzuela said that he and his brother, Valentin Valenzuela, are Vietnam veterans who have been facing deportation proceedings since 2009, due to charges of drunk and disorderly and resisting arrest that were filed more than 10 years prior. “It’s not right,” Manuel Valenzuela said. “We were out fighting for this country, had to kill for this country, to be shot at for this country. And then be thrown away like we’re trash, we’re nothing.” The two brothers have been protesting around the country and a documentary about them, American Exile, will debut later this year. Manuel has met with Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, [See Leave No Soldier, p. 4] 1
August 19 - September 1, 2021
Northern Soul pioneer Nolan Porter: In the wake of a giant p. 9
incapacitated. It would certainly encourage other ongoing GOP efforts to undermine majority rule — voter suppression laws, partisan gerrymandering, even increased physical violence. If Newsom does survive, however, there’s invigorated interest — and strong public support — for major reforms to the recall process... and perhaps even the initiative, too.
Ten candidates qualify for Carson special election seats p. 5
On the bear: Gubernatorial candidates Kevin Faulconer and Larry Elder. Standing: Gubernatorial candidate John Cox. Graphic by Suzanne Matsumiya
Real People, Real News, Really Effective
n 2018, Gavin Newsom defeated John Cox in the California governor’s race with 62% of votes cast, the biggest victory for a non-incumbent governor since 1930, and the first time ever that Democrats had won three consecutive gubernatorial elections. But now, recent polling shows he could become just the second governor to be recalled — and replaced by a Republican getting 20% of the vote or less. And how much damage a Republican governor could do in California and beyond — especially as the COVID-19 Delta variant still rages — is difficult to imagine. It could turn the state into a Florida-style COVID-19 basket case — where the case rate recently was almost five times California’s. It could wreck havoc with our efforts to fight climate change, tear the state apart with Donald Trump-style executive orders (regardless of their legality) and even tip the balance of power in the U.S. Senate — derailing President Joe Biden’s agenda — should Dianne Feinstein die or become